The Haunting Tale

Chapter 10: He IS The One

Noah wandered along the paths. The castle was so big, he thought he was lost. But Noah wasn't afraid of being lost, sometimes he thought it was fun to be so. When being lost, he usually found interesting things. And that day, he found an interesting room: it was a dark, dusty room with a big window in the front, showing the whole view of The Unholy Forest. He walked inside and to the balcony. He looked around and took a deep breath, it was a magnificent view.

Figar and Ward ran across the halls and paths, trying to find where Noah could be. They went upstairs and quickly ran to the West, a place where only Diana could go.

"Hey hey hey! That's the West! Diana would kill us," said Figar, his candles were shaking.

"I don't want to risk my life and walk there," Ward trembled, then ran away from the West as far as possible. Figar followed him, and the duo stumbled on Diana, who was walking toward the West.

"What are you two doing here? Have you gone to the West?" Diana glared at them, they shook their heads in unison.

"Where's Noah? Is he fine?" Diana saw them sweating like bath. She crossed her arms, then uncrossed them with a sigh, putting her hand on her forehead, "He's in the West, isn't he?"

"Yes..." said Ward awkwardly. Diana panicked and trotted to the West, Ward and Figar quietly followed her.

"Noah! NOAH!" Diana called out for him but no response. She went to the forbidden room, which the door was opened, and ran inside. She saw Noah in the room and grabbed his wrist, pulled him outside the room and yelled with tears, "This is a forbidden room, Noah! You cannot go in there!" Diana burst into tears and hugged Noah tight. Noah was confused, but he still tried to coax her and patted her back, "Just let it out..."

"I can't..." her voice trembled.

"Why?"

"This was supposed to be my baby's room..."

Back the early days before she died, when she knew that she was pregnant, she made a baby room all by herself, not letting anyone know. She wanted a surprise. But when she was sent to Unholy Forest, she was no longer pregnant, her baby died. The baby room, which where Noah found, haunted her. Everyday, she would go to the West Wing and visit the room. She would close the door and cry next to the wooden crib. She would stare at the teddy bear she had knitted with all her heart, and the teddy bear would just sit still at the corner of the room and look at her with button eyes. Then she would look at the torn portrait of the Prince and cry again. It started to be a routine... til she met Noah. All the sadness and pain swept away with his lovely smile. Noah was her distraction. He was her medicine for curing depression. She then thought of not going to the West again.

And then he found the room.

"I'm sorry..." Noah cooed.

"It's not your fault..." Diana cried on his shoulder, still hugging him tight. Figar and Ward were still there, they began to cry.

"All the past, you need to let it go," said Noah. "If you don't let go, things awful will happen to you. Forget the painful past and move on, focus on the present and future. When my father died, I was sad and I isolated myself in my room. And then I realized that nobody is alone. There are more kids like me who had deceased dads. And of course, more women like you who lost their children and be betrayed. So, I decided to go out, talk to those people who understood me, and then I became outgoing.

"Diana, you have me. I know how you feel. It... sucks. I think hiding and pretending that you're not exist is not the answer."

Diana looked at Noah's blue eyes, then she kissed him on his cheek and laid her head against his chest.

"Figar," Ward whispered, "He IS the one."